Kepa Arrizabalaga is set to start the League Cup final against Manchester City, with Pep Guardiola already confirming he’ll start James Trafford for City.
Mario Cortegana reports for The Athletic that Kepa Arrizabalaga is set to keep his place in Arsenal’s League Cup team for the final against Manchester City, despite generally being behind David Raya in the pecking order at the club.
Cortegana cites sources close to Arsenal, who claim Mikel Arteta has decided to keep faith in the 31-year-old for the final.
Arteta had refused to say which goalkeeper would be playing the match in his pre-game press conference, though he did confirmed that he’d already made a decision.
It seems Manchester City are approaching the game in the same way, with Pep Guardiola confirming he’ll also play his second-choice goalkeeper James Trafford over Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Donnarumma and Raya have been two of the leading goalkeepers in the Premier League this season in terms of clean sheets, but they’ll have to watch on from the bench at Wembley on this occasion.
Kepa has played nine games for Arsenal this season, keeping clean sheets against Wigan, Port Vale, Brighton, and Chelsea. He also saved a penalty to send the Gunners through against Crystal Palace in the League Cup quarter-finals.
Arteta is generally very guarded with his team selection information, so we probably won’t know much more about his lineup until it’s confirmed on Sunday afternoon. But it looks like one position is sorted for both teams.